Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) typically include micromechanical elements, actuators and electronics. After fabrication, an MEMS device can be housed in a chamber for protection of the mechanical structure against damage and contamination with impurities that may cause degradation, deviance, or failure of the MEMS device.
For instance, JP 2029017 A discloses a packaging method for a surface acoustic wave device, wherein a wire-bonded SAW and a wire-bonded, conduction-active solid getter are sealed under vacuum in a package. CN 102040186 A relates to a high vacuum ceramic leadless chip carrier (LCC) packaging method, wherein an MEMS device is packaged by the steps of plasma cleaning, eutectic surface mount, lead interconnection, getter activation and eutectic sealing. US patent application US 2011/0290552 A1 discloses an MEMS device package structure including an interferometric modulator array formed on a substrate and encapsulated between the substrate and a back plane, wherein in a cavity between the back plane and the substrate a chemically active getter material is positioned above the interferometric modulator array. US patent application US 2011/0165718 A1 discloses a method for manufacturing microelectromechanical systems having mechanical structures that are encapsulated in a chamber using thin-film wafer level encapsulation techniques, wherein an integrated getter area and/or enhanced volume of the chamber is provided by forming gaps, trenches and/or slices in a periphery area of the MEMS device.
The methods for manufacturing of these types of MEMS packages are relatively complex and expensive. In addition, such conventional MEMS packages typically lead to a relatively large overall size of the package in comparison to the dimensions of the MEMS itself, and therefore do not meet the present demand for smaller MEMS components required in miniaturized circuitries and devices with higher component density.